Logic began independently in ancient India and continued to develop to early modern times without any known influence from Greek logic.[5] Medhatithi Gautama (c. 7th century BC) founded the anviksiki school of logic.The Mahabharata , around the 5th century BC, refers to the anviksiki and tarka schools of logic. Pāṇini (c. 5th century BC) developed a form of logic (to which Boolean logic has some similarities) for his formulation of Sanskrit grammar. Logic is described by Chanakya (c. 350-283 BC) in his Arthashastra as an independent field of inquiry.

Two of the six Indian schools of thought deal with logic: Nyaya and Vaisheshika. The Nyaya Sutras of Aksapada Gautama (c. 2nd century AD) constitute the core texts of the Nyaya school, one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. This realist school developed a rigid five-member schema of inference involving an initial premise, a reason, an example, an application, and a conclusion.[8] The idealist Buddhist philosophy became the chief opponent to the Naiyayikas. Nagarjuna (c. 150-250 AD), the founder